This past year I decided to really expand my garden. I went from a dozen or so tomatoes and a few peppers, squash and beans to a full blown garden this year, including about 20 tomato plants, a dozen squash plants, some peppers, beans, eggplant, melons, etc, plus a spring crop of kohlrabi, beets, and peas. I also have had a fig and 2 blueberries in pots, which I've expanded to 4 blueberries, as well as 2 raspberries and 2 blackberries, all in pots (I'd love to put them in the ground, but I will be moving in a couple years and don't know if I could dig them all back out...)

What did I learn? It got really expensive really quickly. Fortunately, I'm learning how to better my situation. The PVC stake investment will hopefully pay off. I also start all my seeds in dirt cheap cups that get used 2-3 years before they become too beat up.

There are still some costs that I can't figure out how to get down though. Seed starter mix, potting mixture, composted manure, and perhaps the biggest one...pots. Next year all 8 of my berry plants will need to be potted up, and the fig could use it too.

Does anyone have good suggestions? I know many folks make their own soil potting mixes, but how much money does it really save? What about manure...is the cheap stuff as good as a the expensive stuff at the hardware store? Also, what do people do about pots when they don't want to spend 25-50 dollars for a good 15+ gallon container? Even the cheap plastic ones run 20 bucks or so.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I've never understood why people use expensive seed starting mixes. I get 100% germination off seeds that are 2-3 years old. But I do buy quality seed. It's worth the money.

As for manure, I amend with steer manure because it's the cheapest thing I can get at Lowes or my local quarry. I don't think it matters where you get it as long as it's fully composted. You don't want to buy the fresh stuff from a barn unless you're adding it to your own compost pile and are willing to wait.

Can't help you on pots, as I only grow in ground. I do know many people grow in those Rubbermaid containers.

As for how I do things on the cheap. There are certainly quality seeds and vendors, but for the plants that I kind of just want around but don't necessarily care about quality, then I get some seeds from dollar store. Often, it is something like 3 or 4 packs for $1. You can get quite a few gardening supplies here also. Some of the best that I've seen are the jute twine and the green trash tie kind of thing that you can make custom lengths with (buying them at another store usually runs a few dollars).

For seed starters: egg cartons (any kind is fine but cardboard cartons can be planted into ground), cheap paper or styrofoam cups, yogurt cups, etc

For pots: Almost anything can be a pot, but for veggie growing, common cheap or free pots can be made from 5-gallon buckets or cat litter buckets. In fact, there are some gardeners whose entire gardens are grown in 5-gallon buckets. They are cheaper than the actual plant pots, but the bonus is that you can get some for free from various sources.

For cuttings: Also at some dollar stores, you can find the aluminum pans with plastic lids. They work well to create a humid environment for cuttings.

I bring up cuttings because once a person advances beyond germinating seeds or buying starter plants, one of the next steps is to grow more plants from cuttings. Figs, all the berry plants you mentioned above, peppers and tomatoes -- are all good candidates for creating more plants from those originals that you grew or planted.

Once you get that knowledge, then although it would be sad to leave behind some plants when moving, you also would know that you can take cuttings and have smaller plants to take with you to your new place.

I've been thinking about rubbermaid containers for the large plants (e.g. berries), but I'm not sure why I've never considered 5 gallon buckets. The fig is already in a 12-15 gallon pot, and the blueberries are in good sized pots as well (past the 5 gallon stage). Might be good for the blackberries and raspberries though!

According to this horticulturalist, the push for those ground wood mixes was due to the development of rapid growing/sales methods. Back when nursery people were not in such a hurry, plants would sit around at the nursery for years, happy in pots of sandy loam. I've tried it for some of my plants, and gotten excellent results. The only down side is that the pots are heavier--you just have to be careful if they need moving.

If you have some decent soil somewhere in your garden--hey, why not try it as an experiment?

BRETT: The only thing I don't like about egg cartons for starting seeds is they dry out FAST. You have to spritz them daily. And the paper-based egg cartons will fall apart on you, so you have to be careful when handling. The yogurt cups are handy for me because I only have to water them weekly and they're big enough, I don't have to pot up.

When we first moved, I got free grass clippings from a neighbor to build my lasagna beds.

Start looking now to see if there's a group near you that orders from Fedco. It's a cooperative effort. Fedco packages each order individually but ships it to one person. We got a discount based on size of the total order which was pretty good on top of their already decent prices. We can get soil amendments from Fedco too but it might be only for New England gardeners. Bulk orders go in. Volunteers handle pickup. You have to pick up your order on one day.

The farm and feed stores near me usually put their split bags on sale at 50% off. Typically the tear isn't that big so not much loss.

Trays, cell packs, and large landscape containers can be sourced free from nurseries. Ask if they have any containers that they are willing to part with. You should be able to find flats for starting seeds and 15+ gallon black containers this way.

If you grow organically, I've found homemade compost to be one of the better seed starting and container mix ingredients. If you use a bagged potting mix instead, you may have to water with liquid fertilizer regularly for the plants to grow well.